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10 quotes: Why Ferguson is like war zone

As newspapers display images of protesters throwing Molotov cocktails and broadcasts include first hand accounts describing the experience of being hit by tear gas, the scene unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri, continues to look like a “war zone.” A growing number of politicians, journalists and activists have started to take notice in the past week, and are drawing similarities between the small town in Missouri and areas farther from home, such as Iraq and Gaza.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.)

“Ferguson resembles Fallujah more than it does Ferguson.”
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said on Tuesday while appearing on MSNBC.

HBO's John Oliver

“The police are troublingly dressed like they’re about to launch an assault on Fallujah.”
HBO’s John Oliver said on Sunday during his show “Last Week Tonight.”

Bret Stephens

"The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.’ By this standard, policing in Ferguson has been a total failure. Which brings me to Fallujah…This is a case study of allowing neighborhoods to decay and disorder to fester; of doing things reactively, not preventively. Where would we be in Iraq today if Mr. Obama hadn’t simply walked and looked away for the past three years? The answer to disorder is to provide order.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens wrote on Monday in an article where he interviews New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

Pulitzer Prize Board

Missouri National Guard troops in Ferguson

“Much has been made of the militarization of U.S. police forces in the years since 9/11. The images of police in flak jackets and military-style helmets made Ferguson look more like Fallujah.”
The editorial board of Syracuse’s Post-Standard wrote in an editorial on Sunday.

Soldiers in Kabul and police in Ferguson

“Since 1990, when [the Pentagon’s 1033 program] started, more than $4 billion worth of military equipment has been distributed. That includes Ferguson — where the incentive to give local police departments a military feel has conjured images of troops patrolling the streets of Kabul or Fallujah rather than West Florissant Road.”
The Lafayette Journal & Courier’s Dave Bangert wrote on Thursday in an article exploring the militarization of police.

Soldiers in Fallujah and law enforcement in Ferguson

“Add in the loot that’s legally appropriated by police agencies in the war on drugs and you have a massive incentive to turn the streets of Ferguson, Missouri (or Zuccotti Park) into a scene that looks more like the siege of Fallujah. After all, that’s explicitly what that video is telling these “troops” they need the Robo-Cop equipment for. And that’s the problem. If you build a police state, the police are going to want to use it.”
Heather Digby Parton wrote in an article for Salon on Friday describing post-9/11 policing.

Wars come home

“In other words, we served in one of Iraq’s bloodiest cities, during the most violent time of the war, with the same gear that a civilian police department is now using in the small American town of Ferguson, Missouri, to quell civic disturbances there. Our wars have come home.”
U.S. military veteran Phillip Carter wrote in an article for The Daily Beast titled “Ferguson’s Cops are Armed Like I Was in Iraq,” where he compares his experiences being deployed to Iraq from 2005-2006 to the images he sees coming from Ferguson.

Protesters in Ferguson and Gaza

Protesters in Ferguson and Gaza

“‘They say it’s the death of three men that started a chain reaction of death and destruction in Gaza,’ she continued. ‘Will we as a people rise up like the people of Gaza? Will our community be bombed like last night with tear gas? That was a terrorist attack.’”
Justin Glawe wrote last Tuesday for The Daily Beast, quoting a 45-year-old East St. Louis resident named Yusra, in an article titled “Michael Brown’s Hometown is Under Occupation.”

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon

“This is a place where people work, go to school, raise their families, and go to church. A diverse community. A Missouri community. But lately it’s looked a little bit more like a war zone and that’s unacceptable,”
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said at a press conference on Thursday.